Of Fate
by Sara Wolfe
Summary: Dumbledore left Harry with the Dursleys, but fate had other things in mind.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:** In the prologue, Ginny is an infant, Ron and Harry are one, Fred and George are three, Percy is five, Charlie is thirteen, and Bill is fifteen.

**Of Fate**

**Prologue**

Night had fallen upon Privet Drive. Everything was dark and quiet; no one and nothing was moving. Except for a couple of people, the likes of whom had never been seen here before. Minerva McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore stood in the driveway of Number Four, talking in low, hushed tones.

"Harry is to be left in the care of his aunt and uncle," Albus said. "I've written a letter explaining everything to them."

Minerva gave Albus a disbelieving look.

"Harry Potter stay here?" she asked. "With these people? Albus, they are the worst sort of Muggles imaginable! They will likely detest his very being."

"Petunia Dursley is Lilly Potter's last remaining blood relative," Albus told her, "and that blood connection is what is needed to properly protect Harry. So long as he remains under his aunt's roof, he will come to no harm."

"Is that the only option?" Minerva asked. "I'm sure there are dozens of wizarding families who would be delighted to adopt him."

"I'm afraid that it's the only choice we have," Albus said. Glancing down at his watch he added, "Hagrid should be here at any moment with Harry."

A few seconds later, as though his words had summoned the man in question, a large flying motorcycle dropped out of the sky, landing only a few feet from them. The rider, a giant of a man, stepped off, carefully cradling a blanket-swaddled bundle to his chest.

"He's asleep," Hagrid said in a low voice. "Nodded off as we was flyin' over Bristol."

Looking around at the still houses, he asked, "This is the place, then? Poor Harry, goin' ter live with Muggles."

"It is the only choice," Albus repeated, echoing his earlier sentiment to Minerva. "Give him here, Hagrid."

"Careful, don't wake him," Hagrid said, handing over his precious burden.

Albus nodded and, moving swiftly now, went up the walk and placed Harry on the doorstep. Tucking a sealed envelope into the folds of the blanket, he stepped back and joined the other two.

"Goodbye, Harry," he said softly. "Until we meet again."

The three disappeared, leaving the street as silent as it had been before their arrival. The hours until dawn passed slowly, broken when the Dursley's front door opened.

Vernon Dursley had been planning on going into the office early, but the sight of the baby on his front step ruined all that. Bending with great difficulty, he grabbed the envelope and broke the seal. After reading the letter twice over, he picked up the now-awake baby and set off to his car.

"I don't care what that old crackpot thinks," he hissed at the baby as he started the car. "We're not keeping you. And I'm certainly not going to tell Petunia. The last thing she needs is have her day ruined by hearing about her freak of a sister."

Backing down the driveway, he started down Privet Drive and just kept driving. He'd driven for over an hour before he reached his destination: the secluded countryside. Here, the houses were few and far between, with people who kept to themselves. It was the perfect place to drop off the annoying brat, with no one the wiser. With luck, someone would keep the brat and he and Petunia would never have to hear the name Harry Potter ever again.

At the first house he came to, Vernon stopped the car and got out, taking the baby with him. Going up the walk, he unceremoniously placed the baby on the front step. Taking out the letter that had been left with him, he proceeded to ink out every mention of his and Petunia's names and address, so that the brat couldn't possibly be traced back to them. He replaced the letter in the folds of the blanket, got back into his car, and drove off without so much as a backward glance at the nephew he was abandoning.

**XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX**

Molly Weasly awoke early, planning on fixing breakfast early, before anyone else got up. But, upon going down to the kitchen, she found that someone had beaten her down there. Her five-year-old son, Percy, sat at the kitchen table. And he wasn't alone.

"Percy, what is that?" Molly demanded, staring in horror at the thing that her son was holding.

"Mousie!" Percy said eagerly, proudly proffering the large gray rat for his mother's inspection.

"Percy, honey, don't you think we should let that rat go in the garden?" Molly asked.

"My mousie!" Percy cried, pouting as he pulled the rat closer to him.

"He's my pet," he said, a second later, smiling as charmingly as he could.

"Honey, wouldn't you rather have a _healthy _pet?" Molly asked plaintively, taking in the rat's worn, battered appearance and missing toe.

" I want to keep him," Percy insisted, on the verge of tears. "Please?"

"All right," Molly said, sighing. "But you need to take good care of him, and he's not to go in the kitchen, understand?"

"Okay," Percy said agreeably. "I'm going to name him Scabbers!"

Watching him dash off, Molly chuckled to herself and turned to start making breakfast. But, she was rudely interrupted by a loud yowl coming from the front of the house.

Opening the front door, she was brought up short by what she saw. A baby, wrapped snugly in blankets, was lying on the step, crying at the top of its lungs. A large cream envelope was tucked into the blankets.

"Arthur!" Molly cried. "Arthur, come quick!"

As her husband came running from upstairs, she bent and picked the baby up, rocking gently to soothe the wild crying.

"I found him on our front step," Molly told Arthur as he slid a piece of paper out of the envelope and began to read. "Why would anyone abandon a baby?"

"This isn't just any baby," Arthur said quietly, refolding the letter and replacing it in the envelope. "This is Harry Potter."


	2. Baby On the Doorstep

**Author's Note: **The next couple of chapters are going to be short, but they'll get longer once the story progresses.

**Chapter One: Baby On the Doorstep**

"This isn't just any baby," Arthur said quietly, refolding the letter and replacing it in the envelope. "This is Harry Potter."

As Molly gasped in shock, Arthur walked over to the fireplace.

"I'm going to contact Albus," he said. "He'll probably want to consult the Ministry about what to do, now that his Muggle relatives have rejected him."

"I'll get a bottle ready," Molly said, carrying Harry into the kitchen. "He's probably starving, poor child."

Removing a clean bottle from the cupboard, she added, "While you're talking to Albus, ask him what he could have been thinking, leaving poor Harry with those horrible Muggles. I'd give him a piece of my mind, but I have children to take care of."

Recognizing his wife's incredible protective streak, Arthur winced in sympathy for Albus. He was sure that as soon as she had a free moment, she would take him to task for his actions regarding Harry. He was just glad that he wasn't going to be in the man's shoes.

Taking a handful of Floo powder, he threw it into the flames and stepped inside, calling for the Headmaster's office as he did. A few seconds later, he stumbled out of the fireplace grate that Albus had in his office, coughing to clear the dust from his lungs.

"Albus?" he called out, and a second later, the wizard appeared.

"Arthur!" he said, jovially. "What brings you here?"

"Harry Potter," Arthur said, briskly, and Albus's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"What about him?" he asked.

"His Muggle relatives abandoned him on our doorstep sometime during the night," Arthur told him.

"Dear me," Albus murmured. "I hadn't anticipated this. The blood protections-"

"Are no good if he's not with his blood relatives, I know," Arthur finished, impatiently. "But, they don't seem to want him. They apparently don't even care if he lives or dies."

"How could you have left him with them?" he demanded a few seconds later, as Albus remained silent.

"They are his sole remaining blood relatives," Albus said, quietly. "I had thought that Petunia, at the very least, would feel some connection to him."

"Apparently not," Arthur said, dryly.

"I'll have to contact the Ministry, immediately," Albus said, after a moment. "They have a vested interest in where Harry ends up-and their own opinions of where that should be, of course."

"Let Molly and me adopt him," Arthur said, suddenly, as an idea seized him. "He'll be in a safe, loving environment with us, and I doubt you could wrench him away from Molly, now, anyway."

"Yes," Albus said, eyeing him slowly. "Yes, I think that I could manage to convince the Ministry to allow the adoption."

"Albus, you could convince a tree to pull up its roots and dance," Arthur said, wryly. "I'm sure one group of councilors will prove no problem."

"Before you go tell Molly of the joyous news," Albus said, as Arthur was starting back to the fireplace, "would you like to tell your sons? I think they'd just be getting out of classes, now."

As Arthur walked back to the Headmaster's desk, Albus gestured, summoning a house-elf into the office.

"Girt, if you would get Charlie and Bill Weasly, please?" Albus asked.

"Yes, sir," Girt squeaked, disappearing with a popping sound. A few seconds later, she popped back in, Bill and Charlie's wrists gripped tightly in her small hands.

"Here they are, sir," she squeaked, disappearing before anyone could say a word. Arthur smirked at how literally the house-elf took her orders.

Bill, rubbing his sore wrists gingerly, was the first to notice Arthur standing there, hiding a grin behind his hand.

"Dad!" he exclaimed, startling Charlie into looking up.

"What are you doing here?" Charlie asked, as both his sons hugged him tightly. "Is something wrong at home?"

"Not at all," Arthur said, smiling. "In fact, it's quite the opposite. How would you boys like to have another brother?"

"Mom's pregnant, again?" Bill asked, peering down at his father from his latest growth spurt.

"No," Arthur told them. "We're going to see about adopting a baby about Ron's age."

"Who is it?" Charlie asked, suspiciously, knowing his dad had something up his sleeve.

"Harry Potter," Arthur said, after a long moment. "He was abandoned on our front stoop sometime last night."

"That's awful!" Bill exclaimed, angrily. "How could anyone just abandon a baby?"

"I don't know," Arthur admitted, honestly. "You boys honestly don't mind? It'll mean less to go around," he cautioned.

"We don't care," Bill said, even as Charlie spoke up.

"It sounds like Harry needs us, Dad," he said. "We have to help him."

"Good, boys," Arthur said, feeling tears spring to his eyes at his sons' unselfishness.

"We need to go," Bill said, suddenly, looking at his watch. "If I'm late for Potions, Professor Snape will give me detention, again."

"Professor McGonagall's going to have my hide," Charlie added, looking nervous as well.

"Notes," Albus said, producing two pieces of paper with a flourish. "This should be sufficient for your teachers."

"Thank you, Headmaster," the boys chorused, dashing out of the office and down the stairs.

"If you'll excuse me," Arthur said, after he watched his sons leave, "I need to get back to Molly."

"I'm sure she's going to be thrilled to have a new son," Albus agreed.

Arthur nodded a brisk farewell to the other man before stepping into the flames, and disappearing.

**XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX**

Three days later, the entire Weasly family, plus Harry stood before the Minister of Magic. Millicent Bagnold smiled as she saw the eager looks on everyone's faces.

"I understand you are here with a petition to adopt Harry Potter?" she asked.

"Yes, Minister," Arthur said.

"And you have speakers present?" she continued.

"I speak for them," Albus said, stepping forward. "I speak for their goodness and their strength of character, and offer, as proof, their children, who stand before you happy and healthy."

"As do I," Minerva McGonagall spoke up, adding her presence to the Headmaster's.

"And I," Severus Snape echoed, lazily, an addition that had surprised and shocked everyone involved in the adoption proceedings.

"Very well," Millicent said. "I have reviewed the petition you filed, as well as all other pertinent documents, and I have reached my decision."

Pausing for dramatic effect, she leaned forward and locked gazes with Molly and Arthur.

"The adoption is approved," she said, clearly.

She had more to say, but she was drowned out by the joyful cheers that filled the room.


	3. For Her Sister's Sake

**Author's Note: **Takes place five years after the prologue and chapter one.

**Chapter Two: For Her Sister's Sake**

"It'll be fun!"

Molly shot her husband a withering look.

"How is standing in line for hours for a pair of eyeglasses easier than having a medi-witch at St. Mungo's fix his eyes?" she demanded, gesturing to Harry, who was playing happily with his older brothers and Ron.

"I didn't say it would be easier," Arthur said. "Only that it would be more fun."

"And how could it possibly be more fun?" Molly asked.

"We'd be just like Muggles!" Arthur exclaimed. "It'll be a wonderful experience for him, Molly, to be exposed to Lilly's world."

"Plenty of magical people wear glasses, Mum," Bill offered. "Dumbledore does, after all."

"Glasses made by the people at St. Mungo's," Molly insisted. "Not by Muggles."

"Muggle-born kids wear them," Charlie spoke up, and his father beamed at him.

"You see?" he said. "It's only natural for Harry to wear Muggle-made glasses."

"I give up," Molly sighed, after a moment. "It looks like we're going to London."

**XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX**

Half an hour later, Molly sat with Harry, Percy, and Ginny in the crowded waiting area of Harrod's optometry department. Arthur and the other boys had disappeared as soon as they'd entered the department store.

Molly looked at the people milling around, and sighed in exasperation.

"Thank you for staying with me," she said, turning to Percy, who was juggling Ginny on his knee.

"No problem, Mum," Percy said, as he made a face at Ginny. The four-year-old squealed in delight, and Percy grinned.

"You're going to make a great father some day," Molly said, wistfully, and her nine-year-old son shot her a panicked look. But before he could reply, a voice called their names.

"That's us," Percy blurted, jumping to his feet and dragging Ginny with him. Molly chuckled as she stood up, and she and Harry went into the open exam room.

"So, this Harry's first eye exam?" the doctor asked, kindly, shutting the door behind them.

"That's right," Molly said. "Our family medi-wi- _doctor_," she corrected herself, stumbling over the unfamiliar language, "thinks that Harry may have a vision problem."

"Well," the doctor said, cheerfully. "Let's see if we can figure out what that is."

"Are you ready to get your eyes looked at, young man?" she continued, speaking to Harry as she swung him into the exam chair.

"Yeah!" Harry exclaimed, catching onto the woman's enthusiasm.

The doctor put Harry through a battery of test, including covering his eyes one at a time and having him name objects he saw on a piece of paper. She did the same thing with a series of letters projected on the far wall.

While Harry dutifully recited the letters, Molly wrung her hands, not able to help the nervous feeling in her stomach.

"He'll be fine, Mum," Percy whispered, sensing the reason for her discomfort. "Glasses aren't the end of the world."

Molly smiled weakly at him, and turned her attention back to Harry. Fifteen minutes later, the doctor had finished her examination, including something called 'eye drops', an ordeal Harry had screamed his way through, with Molly wanting to join him. Percy finally had to hold his little brother on his lap to calm him down while the doctor dripped liquid into Harry's eyes.

"His eyes should be fully dilated in about twenty-thirty minutes, and then we can finish the exam," the doctor said, cheerfully unfazed, as though she dealt with toddlers screaming bloody murder every day.

"Finish the exam?" Molly asked, weakly.

"The last part is the fastest," the doctor assured her. "And the easiest on the children. Now, if you'd like to go back out to the waiting area, we'll call you when it's time."

At the dismissal, Molly stood and fled the room, clutching Harry's hands convulsively.

"That was positively barbaric!" she hissed to Percy, as she sank into one of the hard chairs. "How could Muggles do this to one another?"

"Mom, hush," Percy whispered, looking around nervously as people shot them curious glances. "Someone might hear you."

But someone already had. A tall, thin woman, with a short, chubby child in tow, snapped her head around at the word Muggle, a look of fear etched plainly on her face. Then, she got a good look at Harry, sitting dutifully in the chair besides Molly's, and her eyes widened. Giving her child over to her husband standing beside her, she set her face in thin lines and marched over to where they sat.

"Can I help you?" Molly asked, warily, noting the woman's apparent and sudden fury.

"Yes, you can," the woman snapped. "You can tell me what the bloody hell you're doing with Lilly Potter's son!"

Even as Molly gaped in amazement at the madwoman standing before her, she found herself rising defensively to protect her children.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"I," the woman gritted, "am Petunia Dursley. And that is my nephew." The last word was ground out from between her teeth, as though it was painful for her to say.

"Now," Petunia repeated, after a long, shocked silence, "what are you doing with Lilly Potter's son?"

"I'm his mother," Molly told her. "His adoptive mother," she amended, seeing the murderous look in the other woman's eyes. "Lilly Potter is dead."

"No," Petunia stated flatly, denial evident in her tone. "It's not possible."

"Mum, I'm going to take Harry and Ginny over there," Percy whispered, jerking his head over to a display.

"All right, dear," Molly replied, still not taking her eyes off Petunia.

"It's. Not. Possible," Petunia snarled, repeating her earlier statement. "Lilly cannot be dead."

"She died five years ago," Molly told her. "And then her son was left in your care, and you abandoned him on my front step."

"I would never," Petunia snapped, staring briefly off into space. Then, she snapped her head around to stare at her husband and son, who were coming towards them.

"I assume that you can Apparate?" she hissed, softly, keeping a wary eye on her approaching family.

"Yes," Molly said, wondering what she was getting at.

"I live at Four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey," Petunia continued, quietly. "Vernon is going to take Dudley to the zoo at three o'clock. I want to hear more about Lilly."

"I'll be there," Molly promised.

Petunia drifted away to join her husband and child. As they walked away, Molly heard her faint voice, "Vernon, it's been a long time since Dudley's been to the zoo, hasn't it?"

"Mum?" Percy whispered, coming back with his siblings in tow. "Was that really Harry's aunt?"

"Yes," Molly replied, but the rest of her answer was cut off by the doctor's summons.

**XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX**

Exactly at three o'clock, Molly found herself standing outside Four Privet Drive. There was an air around the neighborhood, more than the sense of complete order that the immaculate houses and lawns showed. This was a feeling that everything in the area was fake, and that reality was deeply hidden.

Shaking off a foreboding feeling, Molly squared her shoulders and knocked firmly on the door. It opened almost immediately and Petunia stood back, an unspoken invitation to enter.

"Tell me about Lilly," Petunia commanded, without greeting. "How did she die?"

"So, you believe me, now?" Molly asked.

"How did my sister die?" Petunia repeated, unwilling to be distracted from gettingthe information she wanted.

"There was an attack, five years ago," Molly began, "on Halloween. Lilly and James were betrayed by one of their closest friends, and they were murdered by You-Know-Who. You do know who that is?" she asked, suddenly, interrupting her narrative.

"I am well aware of who Voldemort is," Petunia said, and Molly flinched at the name. "Go on."

"You-Know-Who then tried to kill Harry," Molly continued. "But it didn't work, and Harry survived while You-Know-Who died. Harry was rescued from the ruins of Godric's Hollow, and brought here the next night, because Dumbledore feared for his safety from any surviving Death Eaters."

"The morning after he would have been left here," Petunia said, without any visible reaction to Molly's recitation, "Vernon went to work early. He would have been the first one outside, and so the one to find a baby on the doorstep."

"And then he decided to abandon Harry without ever telling you that he'd even been there," Molly guessed, and Petunia nodded, stiffly.

"Most likely, Vernon would have told himself that he was protecting me in some way, and that what he was doing was right," she said.

Molly found herself unable to reply to that, but found that she didn't have to, as Petunia continued speaking.

"Did Dumbledore leave anything with _Harry_," she forced the name out with difficulty, "when he left him here?"

"A letter, telling you what I just did," Molly said.

"Anything else?" Petunia prompted, impatiently.

"He mentioned the blood bond that would protect Harry within these walls," Molly told her. "Your blood, because Lilly died protecting him."

"What is needed for these blood protections?" Petunia asked, her face becoming more pinched than before at Lilly's name.

"Harry needs to be in this house, with you, or another of your blood, at least once during the calendar year," Molly said. "That was one thing that worried Dumbledore about my family adopting Harry, that he wouldn't have the blood protection thathe would here."

"Vernon goes fishing for a week every summer," Petunia replied, lapsing into one of her strange tangents. "Harry can come here during that time, so that the blood protection will be renewed. It is the least I can do."

"Thank you," Molly gasped, surprised. "But, why would you do this?"

"I saw Lilly in a dream, Halloween night, five years ago," Petunia said, quietly. "She begged me to protect her son, and I promised that I would. Now, I know that was no dream. I do this for Lilly, no other."

"Thank you," Molly repeated, gratefully. "How did you recognize Harry?" she asked, a moment later.

"He has Lilly's eyes," Petunia said, shortly.

Shescrutinized Molly for a long second beforeturning away, a clear dismissal. Molly took that as her clue to leave, and Apparated away, arriving in her kitchen. She arrived in time to see Fred limping his slow way up the stairs, his hands surreptitiously rubbing his bottom.

"Do I even want to ask?" she asked Percy, who sat at the table, nose in a book. Charlie, sitting beside him, smirked.

"Dad caught Fred trying to make Ron swear an Unbreakable Vow," he informed his mother. "It was almost as impressive as if you'd been here."

"You're not going to go after him?" Percy asked in amazement, a few seconds later, when Molly started getting dinner ready.

"I trust your father's judgment in discipline," she said, simply.

"Wow," Percy marveled. "Your meeting with Harry's aunt must have gone really well."

"Yes," Molly said, softly. "It did."


	4. Out of the Ashes

**Author's Note: Takes place four years after chapter two.**

**Chapter Three: Out of the Ashes**

"Mom, have you seen Scabbers?"

Molly looked up as Percy's voice floated through the house. A moment later, the son in question walked into the kitchen.

"Isn't he supposed to be in your room?" she asked, wryly, and Percy flushed, guiltily.

"He got out," he admitted. "I won't let it happen again, I promise."

"Good," Molly said. "And no, I haven't seen Scabbers. You might check the garden, though."

"Thanks, Mom," Percy said.

As he left the kitchen, in his own, sedate way, he was passed by the blurs that were Fred and George, who plunked themselves down at the table, winded from their impromptu race. A few seconds later, Ron ran in behind them, clearly disappointed to have lost.

"What have I told you about running in the house?" Molly scolded the boys, who looked completely unrepentant.

"We were just having fun!" Fred defended himself and his brothers.

"We didn't break anything, or hurt anyone," George continued.

"One of you go wake Ginny up," Molly sighed.

"I'll go!" Ron piped up, dashing back down the hall, toward his sister's room.

"Harry's coming back today, right?" George asked, helping his mother move breakfast to the table.

"Your father's gone to pick him up, right now," Molly answered.

Just then, Percy came back into the kitchen, a crestfallen look on his face.

"I can't find Scabbers, anywhere," he grumbled.

**XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX**

Arthur pulled up to the Dursley's house, to be confronted with an amazing sight. Harry and his young cousin were huddled, fearfully, against the side of the house. A few feet away stood a short, scrawny wizard, grinning insanely as he menaced them with his wand. And standing between the groups was Petunia Dursley, brandishing a cooking skillet.

Even as the wizard made to move his wand, Petunia swung the heavy iron frying pan. She hit the wizard's hand with a sickening crunch of breaking bone, and his wand went flying. Arthur leapt out of the car, brandishing his own wand as the wizard jumped back, cradling his broken wrist gently to his body.

"You'll pay for that, Muggle!" the wizard screeched, lunging at Petunia.

Arthur swung his wand up to cast a defensive spell (and damn the consequences), but he never got the chance. Before he could get _expelliarmous_ past his lips, a brilliant flash of light lit up the sky, and the wizard was thrown violently backward.

He got to his feet, intent on going after Petunia again, but the sight of Arthur bearing down on him quickly changed his mind. Even as Arthur was casting a spell, the wizard was twisting, shrinking, falling into the grass.

A few seconds later, a large gray rat peeked up at him out of the grass, before disappearing completely. Arthur spared a second to be amazed at the sight of the Animagus, before turning his attention to his son.

He ran towards Harry, who hiccupped out a sob and threw himself into his father's arms.

"Who was that?" Petunia demanded, fiercely, as they comforted their terrified children as best they could, given the circumstances.

"I don't know," Arthur replied, softly. "He looked familiar, but I can't say where I've seen him before."

"What was he after?" Petunia pressed, anxiously. "Will he come back?"

"I don't know," Arthur repeated, knowing how frustrating it was to have such a pat non-answer. "But I'll be contacting Dumbledore, immediately, and having him set up a guard around your house. If he does come back…"

His voice trailed off as he considered just how close he'd come to losing his son. The thought chilled him to his bones, and he squeezed Harry so suddenly that the boy squeaked in protest.

"That was a good job, Harry," Arthur said, encouragingly. "Protecting your aunt and cousinlike you did."

"I didn't do it, Dad," Harry said, eyes shining with earnest honesty. "Dudley did."

**A/N: So, yeah, that was really short. And I'll try to be longer, next time. But, I'm hoping the content made up for the lack of length.**


End file.
